


Anomaly

by plude, ritsuko



Category: Star Trek Reboot, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, F/M, M/M, Slash, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-04
Updated: 2013-08-15
Packaged: 2017-12-22 09:32:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/911653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plude/pseuds/plude, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ritsuko/pseuds/ritsuko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Vulcan wasn't suddenly under attack right after the Kobayashi Maru trial?  What if Spock Prime had taken a little longer to arrive?  This fic explores what else might have happened differently.  It is super long with the main pairings being McKirk and Spohura, but there will be some light Spirk on the side.  I am starting with a lower rating, but chapter three might get a bit pr0ny.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Jim paces the room in a huff, his hands in his hair as he rants at his best friend and tugs off his cadet uniform jacket to toss it haphazardly on his bed. “ARGH! Stupid freakin’…”  
“Pointy-eared bastard,” the other man finishes for him.

“Yeah, you said it, Bones,” he states in frustration as he kicks a pizza box that lay haphazardly on the floor of their messy dorm room. “I oughtta go give him a piece of my mind in person. If he thinks he can hide behind that court…”

Both men pause as a precisely timed knock at the door interrupts their irritated discussion. Jim walks over to the door and opens it. “Yeah, what do you…” the man cuts himself off as he realizes just who exactly awaits behind the door, the exact person he had been discussing going to yell at.   
Before Jim can get another word or reaction in the visitor speaks, “James Tiberius Kirk. I have come to question you on the matter of how you cheated on my t…”

“I didn’t cheat! The test was a cheat! You’re a cheat!” Jim bites back, stabbing a finger in his direction.

The Vulcan’s eyebrow shoots up in mild irritation and slight surprise at his words, “How was it you managed to hack into the system to change the direct outcome of the test?”

Jim quirks an arrogant smile, “I don’t see why I should answer any of your questions.”

Bones looks between both men and wishes he is somewhere else at the moment. The Vulcan’s barely noticeable response to Jim’s outburst of defiance concerns him. Clearly this is about to get even uglier knowing Jim. Furtively he begins to judge the distance between himself and the door, wondering if he can make it there before the fireworks start to fly. He likes being there for his best friend, but he knows all too well Jim’s love of starting his little fistfights, and Bones isn’t sure he is up for grappling with a half Vulcan at the moment. Besides, some shots are definitely in order after that horrific trial, and not the type that come in a syringe.

“Sooo… guys,” Bones states as he steps between them, “Maybe I should um…”  
Jim can tell Bones really doesn’t want any part in this fight so he gives him a nod and shoves him out the door without words. It will be better if only he gets in trouble anyway, and he is sure if this continues his friend will call the man a “pointy-eared bastard” to his face, not the best way to keep his friend out of trouble.

Spock watches the odd exchange between the two men and the seemingly intimate way the blonde shoves the other man by the shoulder. By Earth standards they are clearly close friends; by Vulcan standards a touch like that could mean far more. He tries to ignore his thoughts, reminding himself he is on Earth after all, as he often does.

Kirk looks back to Spock, “Now it’s just you and me. What are you going to do, throw another hissy because I beat your test?”  
The Vulcan clasps his hands behind his back, standing at rapt attention. Everything about him appears to be military precision from that uniform to the crisp stance. They are in his dormitory, not a lineup or a classroom even. Annoying. Jim finds this guy incredibly annoying.  
“I do not understand your meaning of the word “hissy”, but if you are referring to your non compliance to inform me of your methods for cheating on my test… I… I demand as your superior for you to tell me,” Spock intones in his normal monotone though there are clear cracks of irritated emotion seeping through.

Jim smirks as he realizes just how much he is actually getting to the other man. “Why commander, if I didn’t know any better I’d say this is bothering you. Not smart enough to figure it out?” he taunts smugly.  
“I just gave you an order, Cadet,” Spock states clearly.

“And I just chose to ignore it. What ya gonna do now? Have me kicked out of school? Step on my birthday cake? All because I am too smart for you?” Jim continues to taunt, knowing full well what he is doing.

Spock’s jaw twitches as he fights almost frowning. Based on taunts from his childhood he knows exactly what the blonde is trying to do. “You may think otherwise, but you are not smarter than I.”

Jim answers with a snort, “Prove it.”

“How would you recommend I do so?” Spock can tell he is being challenged in some way or another.  
.  
Jim’s gaze shifts idly to a chess set on a cluttered table he and Bones share. The two men had been in the middle of a game, but Bones had finally said he was tired of Jim spanking him all the time and had given in much to Jim’s dismay. It would be nice to play with someone who was actually a challenge.  
“Do you know how to play, Spock? Or, is this game too far beneath you and your Vulcan standards?”  
Spock purses his lips, “It just so happens that I excel at your Terran game.”

Jim smiles bright, clearly genuinely pleased, which is a strange thought for Spock, all things considered, “Good, how about we play a match then, but let’s make it interesting.”  
There is a slight tilt to the Vulcan’s head, “The game is not already interesting for you? How would you propose we make it more so?”

Jim licks his lips, “Why don’t we bet on it?”

Spock’s eyebrows lower slightly in the center disapprovingly, “Vulcans do not gamble.”

“Is that a rule?” Jim queries.

“To what purpose would wagering over the game’s victor serve?” the Vulcan engages.

“Games are more exciting when there is a prize.”

“Intriguing. So you propose just playing the game is not interest enough for you?” Spock almost sounds like he is teasing which amuses Jim a bit.

Jim can tell his answer must be stated cleverly if he is to keep the attention of the Vulcan and not simply be dismissed. “I propose I won’t feel the need to compete or win unless there are stakes. You do want my best game don’t you?”

“Of course. I would expect no less,” Spock answers pointedly.

“Well then,” Kirk begins as he starts to clear off the table to set up the chess set. “How about if I win you get me a position on the Enterprise bridge as high up as you possibly can at your post?” he asks with a mischievous smirk.

Spock’s face remains a mask but his eyes burn with indignance, “You are attempting to trick me and somehow cheat as you did on the Kobayashi Maru Drill.”

“But you seem like such a smart man so how could I possibly get away with something like that, and do tell, how does one cheat at chess?” Kirk asks as he bats his eyes at the Vulcan teasingly and finishes setting up the set on the still quite messy table.

Spock frowns ever so slightly in disgust at the table and maybe a bit at the man’s words, “When I win what do I receive?” he finally asks.

“Not cocky at all, are we, Spocky?” Kirk teases as he dusts some orange chips off of one of the seats and sets it up across from the one he is positioning himself in front of that has a towel covering the back of it. “You will receive… I will tell you how I beat the Kobayashi Maru. How about that?” he states, knowing it will peak the man’s interest.

The half-Vulcan chooses to just ignore the first statement though he wishes to point out that “cocky” is a human emotion. He is rather disgusted at the state of the room but tries to keep it too himself. He wonders how anyone can live like that and why they would choose too when there are cleaning bots available. Kirk’s terms do highly pique his interests and he has to force himself not to show it and to simply raise an eyebrow. “Very well,” he answers in his normal almost monotone. “I accept the terms of your challenge.”

Kirk wears his emotions on his sleeve as usual and gives another bright smile, “Good.” He then motions for Spock to take a seat and asks if he would like to be white and go first.  
“I should think you would take every advantage that you can get,” Spock intones drily.

“Oh believe me, I am,” Kirk answers in slight amusement and motions for Spock to make a move.

Spock starts with a smart move for laying out a sturdy blockade.  
Kirk answers by boldly moving one of his knights immediately and going on the offense. The two men’s chess playing styles mimic their personalities well and Spock doesn’t know what to expect from the other man’s bold unconventional moves. So, the raven haired man is actually surprised when he soon finds his king in check. He, of course, answers by moving out of check, but before he can get much further he finds himself struggling to protect his king. The other man is far smarter than he had ever thought to give him credit for.

Jim takes his victory lightly and tries hard not to gloat too much. He simply gives the other man a smug smile.  
“You’re a fantastic opponent. It was fun; we should play again soon,” the blonde offers lightheartedly.

Spock is a bit taken aback. He quirks an eyebrow at the other man. How is it that someone so irrational seems to continue to elude him while eluding all logic is somewhat baffling.  
“You wish to play again?” he questions, still not at all guessing what logic this man could possibly be using.

“Right now?” Jim teases. “But if I let you beat me right now how will I ever get the chance to hang out with you again?”

Spock isn’t sure he understands at all which really bothers him. He has never had many human friends or friends of any species for that matter so he finds it perplexing that someone he had just publically accused of cheating would speak to him in such a way.  
“You actually wish to fraternize once again?”

Jim shrugs, “Why not? We both had fun. I doubt there are many who can pose a challenge to a guy like you.”

Spock is once again perplexed as he cannot deny the truth in the man’s words. Too bad he still has charges against him for cheating. Spock, still unsure of the other man’s intentions decides this is the best time to take his leave and does so, leaving Jim wondering if it was something he had said.

Later that evening Spock meets his girlfriend for coffee and decides to bring up the situation, hoping she can shed some light on the matter. “I played chess with James Tiberius Kirk today.”

Uhura practically chokes on her coffee, “Spock, do you know how many languages I have a grasp on? Don’t answer that. Did you really just say you played chess with… Why?”

“He asked me to,” Spock answers simply though really he has no idea why he had done such a thing. He would never admit it, but a tiny part of him suggests it might be out of some sense of companionship even if said companionship is a bit hostile.

Uhura gives a soft laugh and shakes her head, “So did he cry when you beat him?”  
Spock gives an indifferent look that doesn’t look all that indifferent to the trained eye, “He won.”

Again, Uhura almost spits out her coffee, “How?”

“He played an incredibly offensive and illogical game with me,” Spock admits simply.

“He offended you? Well he is pretty offensive…” Uhura starts to say.

“Negative, he played the game with a strong offensive tactic and completely illogical moves,” Spock clarifies.

“And that’s how he won?” Uhura seems startled at the thought an idiot like Jim Kirk could beat her genius boyfriend at anything, particularly chess.

“He must have particularly wished to be the victor considering the wager he posted on the game,” Spock is unsure of how else to bring it up though he almost feels shame for falling for such a thing, but he needs her advice.

“He talked you into a wager?! How did he…”

“He would not tell me how he beat… cheated on the Kobiashimaru but agreed to if I won.” It sounds worse to Spock when he hears himself say it out loud and to one of the people whose opinion matters most to him.

“What did he ask in return?” Uhura is almost afraid to ask and still shocked Spock had somehow been talked into all of this.  
“He wanted a position on the bridge of the Enterprise,” Spock states clearly though it tastes bad coming out of his mouth and he is sure he is feeling shame though he hides it well with his stoic Vulcan exterior.  
“What? And you agreed… So you’re dropping the charges?” she sounds incredulous.  
“Dropping the charges was not part of the wager,” the half Vulcan says matter of factly.

Nyota cocks an eyebrow at Spock, “Well you won’t be able to get him a position on the bridge unless you drop the charges.”

“But still it stands that is not a part of the wager, Nyota,” Spock tries to argue logically.

“So, then… you lied to him,” Nyota points out, a hint of a disappointment in her voice.

“Vulcan’s do not lie.”

“Then I suppose you will have to do whatever you can to get him a place on the Enterprise bridge, including dropping the charges,” Nyota wishes it were otherwise. After all, she wants a place on that bridge herself.

“Do you honestly believe that Jim Kirk belongs on the bridge of the Enterprise?” Spock sounds almost astounded.

She shakes her head, “No, but I’m not the one who made a stupid wager with him.”

Spock gives a very serious look. She is right. He will have to drop the charges. Jim Kirk has not only somehow beaten his test, beat him at chess, but now he has also outsmarted him and tricked him into dropping the charges.

The Vulcan exhales softly, staring at his girlfriend, “Although I do hate to admit it, your logic is sound.”

Nyota hates being right when it was about something like this, but still, she gives a pert smile at his admittance and at his integrity, “Isn’t it always?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim has breakfast with Spock.

Jim grumbles at the tapping at his door and rolls over to pull the pillow over his head. He feels another hit him as Bones tosses it. “Geeze kid, aren’t you going to get that? Getting an old man out of bed at this hour!” he complains as he gets up to answer the door.

A courier stands just outside, a young new recruit, still with pimples. He holds a PADD with very pertinent information. “Are you James Kirk?” he asks in a nasal tone.

McCoy fights mentally not to tell the kid he clearly needs to get an inhaler. His fingers itch to write him a prescription. “Do I look like James Kirk?” he replies sarcastically.

“How should I know?” he shrugs, itching a pimple on the side of his face.

Bones contemplates issuing him some topical crème before he goes to shake at Jim in the bed, “Get the hell out of bed. Your date is waiting at the door.”  
Jim whines and rubs his eyes, “Is she pretty?”  
“See for yourself. Pucker up.”

The younger man grumbles some more before he gets out of bed, scratching his side. He is shirtless with only Starfleet issue sleep pants on. It is clear he isn’t even wearing underwear. His hair sticks up in every direction and bed marks can be seen on his face. His eyes have dark circles under. He stumbles to the door and frowns and whines just a little when he does not see a hot girl waiting. He signs for the PADD and squints to read it as he shuts the door. Suddenly he is wide awake and jumping up and down as he tackles his best friend in a hug. “Guess who is not only no longer up for charges but will now be serving on the bridge of the Enterprise?!”

The darker haired man raises his eyebrows. “Is this a trick question? It’s too early for this shit. Give me that,” he says as he yanks the PADD out of the blonde’s hands to read it. “You have got to be fucking shitting me! How did you… shit, kid!” The man can’t believe his eyes; somehow that insane kid has just acquired himself a place on the Enterprise bridge. It’s right there in text.

Jim just laughs and pokes McCoy’s cheek, “And you thought it wouldn’t happen! You probably thought I’d get grounded or at best get on some crappy ship like the Farragut or the Bradley, but nooo; I’m on the fastest and bestest ship in the whole fleet!”

McCoy shoves Jim away and shakes his head, “’Bestest’ isn’t a world, kid. Gawd, whose dick did you have to suck to get this position?” he asks still taken aback by the revelation.

“Hey! I didn’t have to suck dick this time,” he jokes, clearly never having sucked dick. 

“Then what did you do?” Bones asks curiously.

Jim smiles ear to ear, “I beat Spock at chess.”

“The hell you did,” McCoy snorts and stares again at the PADD in his hands, still not believing his eyes.

“No, seriously, I bet him if I won that he had to get me a spot on the Enterprise bridge,” Jim’s tone is earnest for once.  
“And how did you get him to make that bet, copious amounts of alcohol? Did you borrow my prescriptions again?” McCoy groans, fearing the worst.

“Again? I told you that wasn’t me,” Jim sighs. “Nothing like that, I just told him I wouldn’t ever tell him how I bet the Kobayashi Maru unless he beat me at chess,” he explains with his best attempt at looking clever.

“Damn kid, and how did you get him to drop the charges?”

“I guess he figured out he couldn’t get me a spot on the bridge without dropping the charges,” Jim points out smugly, practically wriggling with excitement.

“You tricked the Vulcan?!” Bones is once again flabbergasted.

“What? Like it’s hard?” the younger man teases, rolling his eyes.

“Man, he is going to hate you.”

“Aww come on, I won this one fair and square. He knew what he was doing,” Jim whines slightly.

Bones shakes his head, “Whatever you say.”  
Jim realizes Bones has somewhat of a point, “Maybe I should find a way to thank him. I mean, he did get me a spot on the Enterprise.” He can’t help but do a little victory dance at those words.

“Yeah, because you tricked him.”

“Aw, get off it. He’s the one claiming to be genius, but some food might smooth things over. What do Vulcans eat?”

The doctor grins wickedly, “Oh, they like to eat things alive… you know… like Klingons do.”

“Oh, so he’s vegan then,” Jim knew well how to read between the sarcasm lines.

“Probably.”

An hour and thirty minutes later sees Kirk on his way to Spock’s quarters with a bag full of fresh ingredients. He runs his fingers through his bed-head hair and knocks on the door, clearing his throat. 

Spock is surprised to hear a knock at his door. He knows Nyota has class preparations at this time so he wonders just who could be behind the door and what news could be awaiting him. He quirks an eyebrow as he opens to reveal James T. Kirk. “Cadet Kirk?”

Jim grins brightly, a sparkle in his eyes, “Not anymore. Now it’s Lieutenant.” 

If Spock were an emotional man he would have facepalmed. He just looks to the bag in the other man’s arms and quirks his eyebrow once again. “What is it you have come for now?”

“I brought breakfast,” Kirk declares cheerfully. “Can I come in?”

Spock is genuinely confused but steps aside, curious to see just what he was up to now. He watches as Kirk opens his large bag and begins to unload the contents onto his countertop by his fridge.

Kirk looks around as he starts to unload his bag. “Damn! This room is huge! And you don’t even share it.”  
With that he takes out the item in the bottom, a plug in heat surface.

“I hope you realize that heat surfaces are against Starfleet protocol and are a potential fire hazard,” Spock points out seriously.

“Aww, don’t worry, Spock. I do this all the time,” Jim says as he plugs it in and begins to mix ingredients and add vegetable oil to the heat surface.

“Of course you do,” Spock says distastefully at how Kirk always seems to find a new way of breaking the rules and acting like it is nothing. Spock is amazed by the goods he assesses from Kirk’s bag, all of them vegan. He watches as the man starts to mix it all up in a bowl he just helped himself to before he began pour it onto the cook surface. “What are you doing?” Spock finally asked.  
“Omelet. Ya like omelets don’t you? I mean, doesn’t everyone like omelets? I brought lots of vegan cheese too.” Kirk looked proud at the declaration, but Spock was still confused.

“To what purpose?” he questioned.

“Breakfast. You do eat don’t you, or are you more advanced in that way?” he answers as he stirs a bit fast and splashes a little vegan egg off the side of the bowl causing it to drip on the counter.

Spock winces at the mess that is being made, but the cadet just rolls his eyes. “Calm down, I’ll cleat it up after,” Kirk talks to him like one might a small child. “Maybe you should sit down or something. You’re hovering is making me nervous.”

“I… What are you doing in my kitchen area, cadet?” Spock questions as he considered Kirk’s request for him to sit and wonders how Earth customs for visiting others could possibly be so radically different.

“It’s lieutenant, remember?” Kirk points out.

“Not yet it’s not, and the question still stands. What is it you are doing?” Spock demands.

“Omelet, I thought I made that clear,” Kirk answers, rolling his eyes.

“Yes, but to what purpose?”

“Breakfast, I also thought I made that clear,” the blonde answers more seriously.

“Yes, but why?” Spock asks.

Spock reminds Jim of the Bilbo Baggins from “The Hobbit” for a brief moment and he smiles and goes to pat his shoulder as he waits for the omelet to cook. 

Spock stares at Jim’s hand and almost flinches at the intimate (by his people’s customs) touch as he waits to see if the other man is going to answer.

“Why not? It’s breakfast time. I’m hungry, you’re probably hungry. I wanted to thank you for your hard work getting me on the bridge.”

“But why did you not just replicate omelets?”

“Because replicator omelets suck. Wait till you taste these! Besides, it wouldn’t be much of a thank you if I didn’t make them myself.”

Finding himself speechless, Spock is surprised that he really has no clue of this man’s motivations at all. He seems to become more of an enigma with every passing moment. He is clearly not the type to kiss up to a higher commanding officer so Spock must assume he is being genuine.  
“You are… thanking me?” he finally manages. “I see no reason for it as you won the wager.”

Kirk grins at Spock’s admittance and goes to flip the omelet using only the pan which earns him a wide-eyed look from Spock. “You got me a place on the bridge of the Enterprise, how could I not thank you?”

The half Vulcan simply looks somewhat concern at the way he is flipping eggs in his kitchenette. He has no answer to the question posed while Jim easily catches the eggs on the cook surface and slides them out onto two plates which he helps himself to from Spock’s cabinets.

Spock continues to stare at him and just stands there while Kirk carries the plates to the table and pours them some fresh juice from the supplies in his bag. He then motions for Spock to come join him as he sets the second plate across from him. “Come on, let’s dig in. These omelets aren’t going to eat themselves.”

The darker haired man barely tastes at his omelet and looks somewhat curious when he finds their taste to actually be quite palatable. He looks to the man across from him with utter disbelief that he could be the one to have created such a thing.

Jim just smiles and crams his omelet in his mouth in big bites as he makes “yum” sounds. He can tell in some way that Spock at least likes it or he clearly wouldn’t be eating it. When he finishes he stands and takes his plate to wash it before he goes to cleaning up his mess as promised. “See, that wasn’t so bad… not like a trip to the dentist or something.”

 

The Vulcan is still only halfway through his omelet, being a much slower eater. Human colloquialisms always seem to fail him as he cannot fathom how to correlate the food cadet Kirk made with a trip to the dentist. It actually had seemed reasonably healthy to him. Delicately he continues to eat his omelet, watching the blonde’s back as he cleans.

Kirk glances over; he can tell he has said something that Spock either misunderstood or just flat out didn’t understand. He mentally shakes it off and almost grins to himself that Spock is one of the top ranks of the school and yet he clearly can’t understand simple things. The word savant comes to mind. It makes him smile openly as he wipes up crumbs from the counter top. He realizes rather advertently that he actually does like Spock.  
Jim wipes his hands on a towel and leans against the counter, waiting to catch Spock’s eyes in between bites, “Come out to the bar with me and Bones tonight.” It isn’t really a question the way he says it, but is clearly an open invite.

Spock swallows. “Bones and I,” he corrects.

The blonde’s eyebrows arch in the center but then he laughs. “Come out to the bar with Bones and I tonight then,” he over exaggerates the words as he says them to tease.

Contemplation crosses the Vulcan’s features. “Why?”

“For fun, why else?” Kirk answers as though it is obvious.

The dark haired man is clearly unsure how going to a bar would be “fun” but then “fun” is so closely related to emotions he is supposed to suppress he guesses that could be the reason for his uncertainty. He still feels torn on why this man would want him to go anywhere with him but at the same time he is intrigued to find out precisely what the appeal of such activities might be. More so, he wants to get to the bottom of what cadet Kirk is trying to do, and he still wants to know how he beat that test. “Very well; I accept.”

Kirk smiles bright and comes over to pat Spock on the shoulder once again which Spock has to force himself not to flinch away from though he does turn to look at the other man. Kirk glances to the door, “I have to get to class. I’ll see you tonight. Be ready to parr-taayy!” With that the whirlwind that is James Tiberius Kirk vacates Spock’s apartment in such a rush that if not for the half eaten omelet in front of him Spock would have never thought he had been there.


End file.
